Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope that this season brings peace and joy to you and your family. I also hope that you can get some time to do what we love to do -- catch fish! Whether you live in the northern hemisphere or southern, this time of year can provide some wonderful tenkara opportunities.
Yesterday, I got on the water for a few hours. I was the only fisher there; there were a few duck hunters, but they stayed far away. The weather was beautiful. The sky was sunny and the air temp was right at freezing, 32 degrees F. There was very little breeze and though the fishing was a little slow it was still great fun.
I started with the Tenkara Times Try 390 7:3 rod and a 13 foot #4 line. I haven't formally reviewed this rod but I will after the first of the year. I'll I can say now is that it seems to be a very nice rod!
After an hour I changed to the Shimano Mainstream ZE and 14 foot tapered fluorocarbon line. This rod has amazing reach!
Because of the bright sun, I used bead head nymphs to dredge up trout. With the Shimano I used a two fly tandem set up. I ran these deep through the slower pools. It worked well. Of course, I couldn't cast using a typical tenkara flick, rather, I had to lob cast. Still, the rod did nicely.
For flies, I used two versions of Lance Egan's Iron Lotus. One version was larger at #14, while the other was a smaller #18. I was testing these versions. It's a great nymphing fly.
Here is a video of some of the fish:
Again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. However you celebrate them, I wish you all the best!
Yesterday, I got on the water for a few hours. I was the only fisher there; there were a few duck hunters, but they stayed far away. The weather was beautiful. The sky was sunny and the air temp was right at freezing, 32 degrees F. There was very little breeze and though the fishing was a little slow it was still great fun.
I started with the Tenkara Times Try 390 7:3 rod and a 13 foot #4 line. I haven't formally reviewed this rod but I will after the first of the year. I'll I can say now is that it seems to be a very nice rod!
After an hour I changed to the Shimano Mainstream ZE and 14 foot tapered fluorocarbon line. This rod has amazing reach!
Because of the bright sun, I used bead head nymphs to dredge up trout. With the Shimano I used a two fly tandem set up. I ran these deep through the slower pools. It worked well. Of course, I couldn't cast using a typical tenkara flick, rather, I had to lob cast. Still, the rod did nicely.
For flies, I used two versions of Lance Egan's Iron Lotus. One version was larger at #14, while the other was a smaller #18. I was testing these versions. It's a great nymphing fly.
 |
| #14 Flash Iron Lotus |
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| #18 Flash Back Iron Lotus |
Here is a video of some of the fish:
Again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. However you celebrate them, I wish you all the best!
I do have a Try 390.
ReplyDeleteWill be anxoius waiting to read your own words on it...
And it is nice indeed!
I was very happy to see this post. I finally got my first tenkara rod a TUSA 12 ft. Iwana. I took it out for the first time this past Friday. I started with a kebari fly and ended up swapping over to a heavy bead head. My casting with the kebari was OK but when I swapped to the bead head I thought I had broken something. I started catching fish so I didn't change anything. I'm glad you mentioned the lob cast in your post. Makes me feel a little better about my casting the other day. Tom I would also love to talk to you about your video setup. I got a Hero3 for Christmas and posted my first tenkara vid on Youtube. It's really bad when comparing it to your videos. I will hopefully get better as time goes by. Z28WTW is my youtube name if you care to watch it and maybe give me some advice. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Wesley,
DeleteWelcome to tenkara. Your video is good. I too use a Hero3 for my videos. The only advise I'd say is try not to move your head around too much. Other than that, it's all good.
Yes, use a lob (open loop) cast when you use a beadhead fly. You do not want the fly hitting the rod.
-Tom